To the Countryside
by J. Puddles
Summary: John plucks up the courage to ask Sherlock to visit the countryside - although Sherlock could see it coming. More of short scene... I've lost inspiration for it - if you want to use it as a prompt for your own writings, please do!


John was curled up in his chair in front of the fire place, feet into the arms of the chair, reading the paper. He had been stuck on the same page for a few minutes, savouring up the words, and taking slow sips from his cup of tea, mulling a sentence over in his head.  
"Sh… Sherlock?" John said, his voice lingering, (much like one does upon his -or her- crush) and folding the paper in half and then half again keeping his forefinger in his place so he could return back to the paper after the conversation.

Sherlock stopped pacing the living room, put the headphones back onto the stag head and walked over to John, jumping onto his chair, opposite him, stabilising himself with the arms and then balancing himself crouching on the cushioned chair.

"John" His voice was soft and compassionate. Sherlock looked like he was staring at John, and if one didn't know any better, would have thought accordingly. Sherlock had moved his hands to be in front of his face and was in a self 'high five' position, pressing and flexing the pads of each fingers together. This was his analysing position, especially when he deduced things from John. Sherlock's eye carefully brushed past every detail on John, his body position, facial expression (John was currently pulling child-like faces in an attempt to get Sherlock to be amused), the way he had creased the paper, and was holding it in his hand.

"Fancy.. I..errr… Fancy" John was stumbling over his words. He knew this would happen, he knew it would happen trying to speak to him about suggesting things that they should do together.  
"Fancy a trip to the countryside?" John managed to rapidly splurt out. "To that haunted school?" He added, hoping this would interest Sherlock more. John had found their last trip to a school exhilarating, and wanted to try and recreate it.

"The school? You mean the one in the article you keep posting around the flat?" Sherlock paused for a second before saying : "No." He jumped out of his chair whilst saying this, and began to pace the room again. "There is no ghost. The so-called ghost on the stairs is something in the window – it occurs more or less every day without fail if the sun is at a certain height and brightness and shines through the glass at a particular angle. It looks like a woman walking up the stairs because that's what people expect it to look like. They're that fixed on a pre-conceived image, when something happens, that's all they see. As for the proof, there aren't any pictures. If it's visible to the human eye, then it'll be visible to a camera or something similar." Sherlock stopped for a minute to face John and see what he thought of his miniature show.  
John shrugged, and uttered, "It was only a suggestion", whilst placing his paper on the coffee table.

"Considered, but why do you want to go there? Last time I checked you're into ghost stories for pleasure, but you don't believe in them, or you don't _want_ to believe in them. So, the school. It's not related to you in any way, it can't be, unless… unless… no. It's not. The school and the nurse. The story is something that has been passed down generation after generation, school year after school year, so why has it made the news? Or that article. Someone needs some money? Rekindle their love for the school? But how come the school is in the middle of the countryside, and it's now in such a derelict and dilapidated. It was closed, what, 20 years ago, so how come it's in such a state?" Sherlock paused for a second to get his breath back, but John took it as a pause for which he could reply to.  
"It's in the middle of the country side, and it's been neglected. What with the weather for the past 20 years – and it must have been in a state before it was shut."  
"Well done, John." Sherlock deeply exhaled the breath which he had just inhaled to continue with his talk.

"Yes, but why?" Sherlock asked. "Why is _that_ school in the news? Why _that_ article? Why _that_ magazine? Why did a person want to put his story in the paper _today_ not _tomorrow_ or sometime l_ast week_?"

**_What do you think? Should this be left as it is, or should Sherlock and John go to this school and figure out this ghost?_**


End file.
